Drinking Water Emergency Order Register

PROBLEM: Jackson, Mississippi's drinking-water system lost pressure in August 2022, leaving about 150,000–160,000 residents without drinkable water. The EPA had already issued an Emergency Order on March 27, 2020 finding conditions presenting an imminent and substantial endangerment, and on November 29, 2022 the DOJ sued the city under the Safe Drinking Water Act and the court entered an Interim Stipulated Order appointing an interim third-party manager; the EPA awarded over $148 million in emergency funding (EPA/DOJ, 2020–2022). Years of orders, notices of noncompliance, and emergency funding were never held in one enforceable compliance timeline.

SOLUTION: A compliance register in IBM Cloud Ideas that records every EPA order, notice of noncompliance, court order, and funding award for a public water system on a single timeline, tracks each required corrective action to completion, and flags overdue actions for the regulator and the court-appointed manager.

EVIDENCE BASIS: DOCUMENTED — EPA Emergency Order, March 27, 2020; DOJ complaint and Interim Stipulated Order, November 29, 2022; EPA emergency funding over $148 million.